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Renee is a Baltimore City girl passionate about bicycles, pink, pizza, silk jersey, history, travel, ballet, Han Solo, and polka dots. She sews ever day with her loyal Chihuahua, Linus Van Pelt, at her side.
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Patterned Knit Cardigan

I’ll be honest with you. I don’t usually care much for sewn cardigans. And, when people were getting on board the waterfall cardigan train three years ago, I happily passed. They don’t have the fitted look I seem to like in hand knit sweaters. But, I liked the look of this Burda waterfall cardigan (they call it a waist coat) when it appeared in the 11/2012 edition (#137 available on the BurdaStyle website for download for $5.40). They recommended using a lightweight mohair, but I wanted to use this thick and cozy geometric sweater knit from Mood fabrics. This is [...]

Baby Blue Sweater Knit Pullover

This pullover from the November 2012 Burda features a low and wide neckline with cuff sleeves and cuffed waistband. I was drawn to the upstyle casual look of it. I really liked how the back and front were two different lengths — providing visual interest to something that could otherwise be a bit ordinary. For this project, I made my usual full bust adjustment and graded from a 38 bust to a 42 at the hips. I really wanted to make sure the pullover wouldn’t ‘cup’ under my tuchis from being too tight. For this project, I used the last [...]

Oscar de la Renta Wool Cape

With an unexpected two days off from work from Hurricane / Tropical Storm Sandy back in November, I got to business in my sewing room. I decided to sew three ‘quick’ unplanned projects that could be finished within three weeks. First, I finished up my Tracy Reese Dress (Part I of the Sandy Collection), sewed up my second Purple Friday dress (Part II of the Sandy Collection) and then moved on to this Vogue 8776 cape (the closing piece in the Sandy Collection runway show). I first spotted this cape on Erica B. in 2011 and it was lust at [...]

Blue Marine Sweater Dress

I’m continuing my current passion for sweater knits in this Burda sheath dress from September 2012. While I’m still tracing mine from the magazine (tears), you can download it for a mere $5.40 from the BurdaStyle website. This marine blue knit from Mood Fabrics NYC was purchased in the same bundle as the autumnal pullover I just completed. The knit is incredibly soft. I love the way the colors meld in this knit. I originally sewed this dress to wear to a Hanukkah party and have pulled it out a few times for work since then. Since the pattern uses [...]

Non-Knitters Unite! or Winter Wool Pullover

It’s a well documented fact that I am insanely jealous of knitters. I love love love wool sweaters. I think cotton sweaters are useless for keeping you warm. And, they fade. They fade badly. But, wool sweaters have moved out of my price range in the last ten years. For real. I can remember buying 100 percent wool sweaters at lower to mid price stores as a matter of course. But, now they are a blend and are not the same quality I used to find. So, I was super excited to find several wool sweater knits at Mood when [...]

‘Puzzled’ Blue and Gold Silk Jersey Dress

After my Purple Friday dress, it feels great to be a in a bold and graphic print! But, let me tell you. This was the slowest silk sewing, evah. Let me splain. This is my second time sewing with silk jersey. I first saw this fabric in store at Mood Fabrics back in August. I loved the blue and gold because they are my sorority colors and I knew I could get some good wear out of it during chapter and regional meetings. Since the silk was 45″ wide, I bought five yards at $25 a yard. This Prairie NY [...]

Go Ravens! Purple Friday Dress

I get called out on my lack of purple during football season. It’s really almost embarrassing in my particular office. I promised myself this was the year I’d have my Purple Friday dress. And, just like it was meant to be, when Mood Fabrics sent me this aubergine double twill as a sample of the fall season, I got super excited and ordered two yards straight away. Yes, double twill cotton. The material is 100 percent cotton, twill with a diagonal weave and very dense. It would make a great jacket, or a mod like dress with structure (oh, you [...]

The Officiant Dress

Saturday night I officiated my friend’s wedding. It was beautiful! Her dress was amazing. Like, seriously, amazing. Not only did I finish my dress on time, I had several people tell me how well the dress colors fit into her plum and grey wedding. Since there was a large NYC / PR / fashion contingency, I was asked a few times if I was a designer. Well, first they asked if I had a theater background and then when they found out I made my dress, they asked I was a designer. It’s so funny how it just doesn’t occur [...]